My sister - who monitors blogs - just told me that Abp Wuerl, of all people, is ordering his priests to be in the confessional from 7:00 to 8:30 pm every night during Lent, whether people come or not.
I'm impressed! I have not liked him a lot because of his weakness on abortion, but if he is doing this, he is getting to the root of the problem. (I hope he plans to offer some training to the priests on how to hear a confession.)
Someone told me here on FR (maybe it was Frank Sheed)that the marks of a vital parish were
1. How long the lines were for the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession.
2. How many people a parish had heading to the priesthood and/or religious life.
Sorry, but I don't remember exactly who it was.
May I make a recommendation besides saying the daily rosary for your parish? I would start a mini-campaign of leaflets. There is an EXCELLENT one from Tan Books called Our Lady's Peace Plan from Heaven. If you buy it in bulk it's very cheap. I can almost guarantee you, if people pick this up and read it, many will be convicted to live better lives and be better Catholics.
Another one would be to promote the devotion to the Divine Mercy. There are little booklets/leaflets for this as well.
One little leaflet could save a multitude of souls.
Another issue that no one seems to know is that confession is a sacrament which delivers sacramental grace. You don't need to commit a murder to confess. I regularly realize how much I break the "sub-sins" of the 10 Commandments and fall into the 7 deadly sins. I'm never at a loss to confess, even if it's merely sins of omission.